Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director Says [Spoiler] Might Still Be Alive

Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jediwriter-director Rian Johnson says one character who seemingly met their fate in the film may still be alive. Two years following the $2 billion worldwide success of The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi has finally descended upon theaters, and met with nearly the same amount of enthusiasm as its Episode VII predecessor in 2015.

Projected for a $425 million global opening, the film overperformed both domestically and abroad, earning $450 million globally, with $220 million of that total coming stateside. Whether the film approaches the $936.6 domestic total for The Force Awakens (or for that matter, the film’s $2 billion global tally) or not, there’s no denying that The Last Jedi is off to a booming start.

Naturally, with the long wait, the fans buying those tickets finally got most of the answers to the questions they were looking for, and, by the sound of things, the story might not be over just yet for one of the characters. In a new interview with EWabout some of the big revelations in the film, Johnson says the bane of Finn’s (John Boyega) existence, Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), might not be dead yet.

For a primer, Phasma was relegated to the Starkiller Base’s trash compactor before the weaponized planet was blown up by the Resistance in The Force Awakens. The story of how Phasma miraculously escaped her crushing fate was detailed in a comic book series after the film, and the chrome-armored Stormtrooper was back in action for The Last Jedi. During her showdown with Finn in the film, Phasma is last seem plummeting into a fiery chasm as Supreme Leader Snoke’s ship suffers irreparable damage.

But being that Phasma had the ability to dodge death in The Force Awakens, EW asked Johnson if she possibly survived again. Johnson replied, jokingly, saying, “Phasma is the Kenny from South Park of this series.”

While Johnson is joking about Phasma, others involved with the film are taking the proposition of her return a bit more seriously. Mark Hamill says, “I think she’s got to survive. She falls through the flames and lands on a big pile of rubbish.” Meanwhile, costume designer Michael Kaplan is revealing that Christie wants the character to make a comeback, saying, “Gwendoline has it all figured out how she wants to come back.”

While the odds for a Phasma return appear to be slim to none, it will be up to Episode IX co-writer director J.J. Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio to find a plausible way to bring the fan favorite back, especially since the character – much like Boba Fett in the original trilogy – feels underused. If not, Phasma’s character is destined to become another character of legend that never got a chance to reach their full potential, a la that bounty hunter that got swallowed up in the Sarlacc Pit in Return of the Jedi.